I arrived at our Mills County lease Friday afternoon to tidy up the trailer and get it ready for the weekend. Drew showed up a little later that evening and we enjoyed a few cocktails and some conversation before hitting the sack in anticipation of the next morning's hunt.
As it turned out, no shots were taken Saturday morning, but I did see the big, wide 8-point and smaller 9-point that were regulars on my trail cam. The big one gave me the slip coming and going, while the smaller one ate corn 13 yards away from my tripod. That afternoon was much worse, with me seeing only Tag, the resident dual ear tagged doe, and a lost fawn. Drew saw some pretty good bucks on the ridgeline approx 250 yards away, but with 30+ cows around his set-up, they declined to come in.
Drew left after the evening hunt, but I was determined to hunt Sunday AM even with the impending rain forecast. I awoke to sprinkles and mist and got to the pop-up near the same feeder location that I hunted Saturday at approx 6:00AM. The actual rain came at about 6:30. Rain fell steadily for about the next hour or so and slacked off. The feeder went off @ 7:30 and Tag showed back up and fed for about 20 minutes. She wandered off and I saw another deer approaching from the west. It was a nice 8-point, he came within 30 yards but turned and went back the way he came.
Shortly thereafter is when the deluge hit. It literally rained buckets for the next two hours. The pop-up was leaking from every seam and stitch, but I was drier than I would have been in the tripod.
Finally the rain let up at about 9:30 and quit completely a few minutes later. The clouds were still threatening and I wondered if I should make a run for it while I had the chance. I ultimately decided to stay and see if anything would get up and mill around after being socked in for most of the morning.
Persistence paid off when I saw the same buck making his way back toward me. He hung up several times but finally got in front of me and gave me a shot at 26 yards. The 4-blade, 125 grain Muzzy tipped Carbon Express Maxima entered just behind the right shoulder and exited in front of the left. The buck went down less than 50 yards from where he was shot. It was long wet hunt in tough conditions, but it definitely was worth waiting out.
As it turned out, no shots were taken Saturday morning, but I did see the big, wide 8-point and smaller 9-point that were regulars on my trail cam. The big one gave me the slip coming and going, while the smaller one ate corn 13 yards away from my tripod. That afternoon was much worse, with me seeing only Tag, the resident dual ear tagged doe, and a lost fawn. Drew saw some pretty good bucks on the ridgeline approx 250 yards away, but with 30+ cows around his set-up, they declined to come in.
Drew left after the evening hunt, but I was determined to hunt Sunday AM even with the impending rain forecast. I awoke to sprinkles and mist and got to the pop-up near the same feeder location that I hunted Saturday at approx 6:00AM. The actual rain came at about 6:30. Rain fell steadily for about the next hour or so and slacked off. The feeder went off @ 7:30 and Tag showed back up and fed for about 20 minutes. She wandered off and I saw another deer approaching from the west. It was a nice 8-point, he came within 30 yards but turned and went back the way he came.
Shortly thereafter is when the deluge hit. It literally rained buckets for the next two hours. The pop-up was leaking from every seam and stitch, but I was drier than I would have been in the tripod.
Finally the rain let up at about 9:30 and quit completely a few minutes later. The clouds were still threatening and I wondered if I should make a run for it while I had the chance. I ultimately decided to stay and see if anything would get up and mill around after being socked in for most of the morning. Persistence paid off when I saw the same buck making his way back toward me. He hung up several times but finally got in front of me and gave me a shot at 26 yards. The 4-blade, 125 grain Muzzy tipped Carbon Express Maxima entered just behind the right shoulder and exited in front of the left. The buck went down less than 50 yards from where he was shot. It was long wet hunt in tough conditions, but it definitely was worth waiting out.
Attached Files
Comment